You Are Loved, You Are Heard
by Tif S
Summary: AU Callie Jacob doesn't speak, understood by no one but her brother, since an incident at the age of thirteen drove her voice from her. AJ is the newly adopted son of Mike Foster. When Mike's ex-wife Stef takes in the broken girl and her brother, AJ is drawn to her, and into the chaos that is the Adams-Foster clan. Can AJ help Callie and find a place in his new family? Callie/AJ
1. Prologue

_**A/N: Okay, so yes, this is another new story. I really like Callie and AJ, so I decided to try my hand at writing a Callie/AJ story and this idea wouldn't leave me alone. This is just a short prologue. Once again I do not own the Fosters, at all, nada, just the crazy plot bunnies.**_

* * *

 **Prologue**

AJ's POV

It's been about a month since I was adopted by Mike, but it still feels like my first days with him. He's cool for sure. He's helped me a lot, but no matter what he tries to tell me, I'm not a Foster. Paper doesn't mean anything. I'm safe… yeah I'm safe with him, but it's still just a cop trying to do charity work with a street kid, at least that's what Brandon, his bio kid, seems to think. Sure, I haven't exactly given him a reason to trust me, instinct you know, but it still sucks. School's about to start. It's my first school year with them, so I'll be seeing a lot of Brandon and his siblings. I'm going to the same school, Anchor Beach. I just hope things go well, but things usually explode before they go smooth so its just a matter of waiting for the boom.

Jude's POV

It's been three years since I've heard my older sister's voice. I'm not even totally sure what happened, she just shut herself off. I've always had to fight for her and now… well now we're moving to another new foster home. I'm scared, I don't want to see her get hurt again. I have no idea what to expect. They seem nice, but then again so did _he_ before he started spending time with Callie and then she just shut down. I don't think it was a coincidence even though all the adults, even Bill, said it was. I really want this time to be different for both of our sakes, but especially for Callie. It has to be doesn't it? We can't always get the short end of the stick. I really want this to work out. I guess we just have to see.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Okay, so, what do you think? Callie's POV will come in eventually, but I haven't quite decided how I'm going to approach it, maybe journal entries. I really want it to feel like she's closed off and not speaking, so I will probably be filtering most of it through the other characters: AJ, Jude, Stef, Lena, etc... As per usual with my stories, most all of the Adams-Fosters will be getting POVs at one point or another. Although the crux of the drama lies with Callie, AJ will be a focus as well as will his relationships with Brandon and Mike and the Adams-Fosters Any thoughts on that? How should I approach it? I'd love your thoughts Fosters friends! :)**_


	2. Chapter 1

_**A/N: 'Ello. First official chapter ready. This was pretty fun to write.**_

* * *

 **Chapter One**

Jude's POV

We're standing on the front porch as Bill knocks on the door. Callie's hand finds mine and she squeezes… hard, two hard grips in quick succession. I glance over to see her eyes already filling with tears. She takes the hand that's not holding mine fisting it and digging into her eyes trying to wipe the tears before the door opens.

"Callie, we'll be okay, I promise." My voice is barely loud enough to be heard, audible only to the two of us. This is the first time we'll be in their house. We met Lena two days before in the center on 5th street. It's called a drop in center, and it's supposed to be a neutral location where foster kids can go for help, and social workers can go to try to find help getting placements for especially "difficult cases", which is what we were like it or not. I refused to leave my sister, fought tooth and nail at the idea of someone even suggesting it which explains why Bill was aggravated. It had been days, hours of meetings with his superiors, the judge and Rafael, trying to fight for us to stay together. And then, the Adams-Fosters had come forward.

A boy opened the door, looking at us with curiosity. He had to be around fifteen or sixteen with dark brown hair and eyes. His eyes then locked onto Bill, standing to the left of us and he seemed to realize what was going on.

"You wanna come in?" He stepped back allowing us entry. "I'll go get Moms."

Callie's head snapped up at the use of the plural. The look she gave was one of a deer in the headlights. I shrugged.

"That'd be great. Thanks Jesus." Bill smiled.

"No problem." He walked away, around the corner leaving us alone… or not.

No sooner had Jesus left, a girl came down the stairs nearly running directly into Callie in her rush down as the bag in her hand fell to the floor.

"Oh my god! I'm sorry!" The girl looked up apologizing as Callie bent down grabbing her bag and handing it to her with a shy smile. "Thanks… uh…"

"Callie. Her name is Callie." I jumped in automatically.

"Couldn't she tell me that herself?" The girl's eyebrows knit together. The question didn't come out rude, just curious.

"She doesn't talk." Bill said before I could open my mouth to respond.

"Oh is she…?" Mariana pointed to her ear.

"She can _hear_ just fine." I snapped, the anger at the usual set of questions rising up. I felt Callie put a hand on my arm applying gentle pressure. _Breathe, calm down. Please don't start a fight before we even meet them!_

"Sorry." I could hear the rise in the girl's voice, a bit of attitude to match mine creeping in, but before I could register her reaction, she was smiling again holding out a hand to Callie. "I'm Mariana, thanks for saving my dance bag."

Callie nodded.

"Sorry again! Maybe I'll see you around. I'm already late!" She shimmied around us as she ran out the door.

Callie turned around then giving me a sharp look, but then the spell was broken and she smiled roughing my hair, a thank you and a warning all within a matter of seconds. Only my sister could do that.

"Hi, nice to see you guys again." We looked up to see Lena standing in the entryway that separated the kitchen and the living room. "Why don't we sit?"

AJ's POV

"Hey," Mike walked into the living room where I was sitting on the couch with my sketchbook open on my lap. It was another new one. It had been an adoption present from Mariana, pretty much the only one I used on a regular basis. "You gonna be okay? I can call Brandon and we can go somewhere else if you want."

I shook my head, a smirk coming naturally to my lips. " Mike you don't need to do that. Me and Brandon are cool. Just order pizza or something."

"Sure." Mike smiled as he sat on the couch next to me. "What's that?" He nodded to the sketch I was working on. "Another one of your superheroes?"

I examined the sketch. I had been trying to come up with a new character for a few weeks now. I wanted to start a comic, but so far I didn't have any sort of idea of who it was I'd been drawing. I had come up with a few designs, but I still didn't have any of their stories.

"I guess so."

Mike scoffed. "You _guess_ so. Looks like one to me."

"Could be a villain." I shrugged. "Or a sidekick."

"Right." He nodded. "So how do you know?"

Before I could come up with an explanation, we were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Dad, AJ?" Brandon's voice floated through the small hallway.

"In the living room B." Mike said.

I sighed bracing myself. It had taken a while for Brandon and I to reach an understanding. His relationship with his dad had been a sensitive issue for a while, I was the new kid living with him while he only saw his dad on certain days. I understood that. There were days where I wasn't even on his radar, until me… and Mike finally snapped. I confronted him three days before my court date… and during his brother and sister's shared Quinceanera celebration. It got ugly, Mike pulled us out and we aired everything. Now… well now we were cool, at least he was. I'm still not sure what to think about any of this. Good relationships were never easy to come by for me, family or not.

"What's up?" I looked up from my drawing when Brandon walked in. "How'd your jam session go?"

He laughed. "You mean rehearsal?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "You get any further with that girl of yours?"

"I'm gonna go order the pizza." Mike stood walking over to the kitchen. "Half cheese half pepperoni okay?"

"Yup." Brandon flashed an 'okay' sign. "Dude!" He put his head in his hands.

"Just figured I'd ask. That's what brothers do right?"

"We're going to be playing at the back to school party Friday night."

"Cool."

"Oh…" Brandon looked at his phone. "Before I forget, Mom and Mama invited you to family game night tomorrow."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Don't ask."

I smirked. "I actually like the Hallmark moments."

"We're not the greeting card type." Brandon murmured.

"Even better."

* * *

 _ **A/N: Yes, I included AJ's superhero drawing pastime. I'm not quite sure if the backstory behind the drawings will be the same as in canon, relatively except I'm not sure if Ty will be making an appearance. Any opinions on that? How'd I do with Brandon and AJ? Their relationship won't be as rocky as in canon, kind of similar to Jesus and Brandon with a bit more of an edge at times. They've had more time to get used to each other in this AU and of course there's no jealousy over Callie. For some perspective, I'm thinking AJ's been fostered by Mike for most of the summer, getting adopted roughly sometime in the midst of the second month of summer vacation. These opening chapters take place in the last few weeks before the beginning of the school year.**_

 ** _Anything you want to see? I'll try to incorporate any suggestions if they fit with what I have planned. Next chapter: Lena talks to Jude and Callie, Stef and Brandon meet them for the first time and a conversation with Bill and Moms among many other things._**


	3. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Okay, here's chapter two. It is a beast, almost 2,050 words. I was going to split it up, but I figured since I may not be able to update for a while on account of college, I'd keep it as is so you get a treat. I really enjoyed writing this one, not very much with AJ, but what does involve him is a big future plot point. :) Hope you like.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

Lena's POV

I sat across from the kids who were still standing in front of the couch waiting for permission.

"Go ahead." I said. They had been through a lot. If I had thought so when I first met them two days ago, that was nothing compared to seeing them in this house. The girl, Callie, I reminded myself, she looked absolutely terrified. Her eyes didn't leave her brother's even as he kept a constant eye on me, and a constant hand interlaced in hers.

"You'll meet the others later. Mariana's at dance, Brandon's at his dad's and Stef and Jesus are cleaning out the garage."

The boy nodded. "We met Mariana already. She kind of… ran into us." He looked at Callie who bumped his shoulder.

I chuckled. I could imagine. "That girl's always rushing somewhere. I think you'll get along well." I looked at Callie who still hadn't said anything. She hadn't spoken during our last encounter either. It was something I found strange, but I knew there had to be a good reason.

She nodded smiling shyly as she tapped her brother on the shoulder. He shook his head, and she continued to prod him looking from me to him.

"So," I leaned forward. I think I got the hint. "Jude, is there anything I should know? Anything at all?"

Jude sighed. "Callie's not deaf." It was defensive, tired like he was used to answering the question constantly.

I saw Callie's eyes turn steely, she shoved Jude.

I shook my head. "No, no, of course not." I smiled. " But I meant about _you._ "

I saw Callie rummaging through a backpack she had with her. She pulled out a few things: photographs, a book(one I recognized. Anchor Beach had assigned it on a few occasions), and a bottle of blue nail polish, setting them on the coffee table and pushing them forward.

I examined the photos. There was one of a dark haired young girl who couldn't be older than three holding a baby on her lap as a woman with the same dark hair stood behind the chair smiling at the children. I guessed that the girl was Callie. The woman was their mother. I just knew. She had the same look Stef and I did when we were looking at our kids. It wasn't hard to know that the baby was Jude.

Another photo showed the kids at an older age, maybe seven and four. Jude sat in a chair with one of those paper crowns sitting crookedly on his forehead. He was leaning forward blowing out candles. Callie was reaching forward as if to shove him face first into the cake, an impish grin on her face. The last photo in the pile was one of just Jude. He was older still, maybe ten, sitting in a tree holding out his nails which were painted blue, to the camera as he smiled, but there was something different in his face. The Jude in this picture had seen more, his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. A young man stood at the base of the tree, just barely out of the frame. His back was to the camera, but his hand was pointed to the sky in a thumbs up position in Jude's direction.

Next I picked up the book: _The Giver_. The story was one I knew well, and judging by the book's condition, they did too. The cover was dog eared, and scrawled in the inside cover was a message. _May you and your brother always be Givers and show what you're made of. Happy Birthday my sweet girl -Mom_

Looking at these items, I knew these kids were special. They deserved to be able to feel safe. I also knew I would try my hardest to make sure they did.

"Hello?" I heard Stef's voice from the kitchen. "Where is everyone?"

"In the living room." I called.

I looked over to read the kids' faces as Stef walked in followed by our youngest son Jesus. "I think a dragon has started hoarding in our garage." Stef smiled. "Are these them?" She glanced over to where Jude and Callie sat on the couch. " Hey there, I'm Stef."

Callie lifted her head giving a small nervous smile.

"This is Callie," Bill introduced putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. Both Stef and I noticed her visibly flinch at the contact.

"I'm Jude." Jude introduced himself glaring daggers at the social worker.

"It's nice to meet you both." Stef said.

"Uh… can I talk to you guys a moment?" Bill said looking toward the kitchen.

"Of course." I looked over to Jesus who had already perched himself on Jude's side of the couch, introducing himself. "You gonna be okay in here?"

Jesus nodded. "We're fine."

"Alright." I glanced back to where Callie sat. Her eyes met mine, but her expression didn't change from the "brave face" she had been putting on earlier when she had given me the things from her backpack. I could see Stef watching us, the silent exchange. It was clear she wanted to say something, but instead she squeezed my arm as I finally broke the spell giving a simple nod in the direction of the kids as we followed Bill into the kitchen.

Brandon's POV

"Hey, you doing okay B?" AJ had left a while ago, slipped past before my dad even realized he was gone, disappeared into the spare bedroom, which now held extra of everything: bed, dresser, even extra hangers in the closet. These small changes had been implemented when AJ had moved in, a stark refusal to share anything still unexplained to either my dad or me. It was a mutual curiosity that colored our visits now, each of us trying to get something out of AJ, make him feel included. I guess it was my way of making up for being so distant earlier. These moments where it was just me and my dad were almost foreign now.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I invited AJ over Saturday, that's okay?"

"That's great." Dad said. "So, what are your plans for the rest of the week? Anything exciting?"

As if on cue, my phone vibrated in my pocket: a text from my brother.

 **The new kids are here.**

New kids? The memory of the dinner conversation two days before crept back slowly. Moms had gotten a call from Bill: two siblings, a boy and a girl that were in need of a home. No one else would take them in, so Mama had offered to meet them. It wasn't until later when I was upstairs in my room, that Moms had come in and explained more.

They were considered troubled. Mama wouldn't say much more about it no matter how much I asked, but it was made clear I was to be especially nice. I knew the drill, but still the curiosity was there. Troubled, I learned, could mean a wide range of things when you were talking about new foster siblings. As I looked at the text Jesus had sent, I wondered what kind of drama he and Mariana had started.

"Moms are fostering two new kids." The reply came out distractedly. "I've gotta get back."

Dad nodded along. "That's right. Your mom was telling me, made me promise not to have you here too long." He grinned. "That's exciting though."

"Yeah," I grabbed my keys as I made my way to the nearby bedroom. My last experience hadn't exactly been smooth, AJ could attest to that, so I knew my moms would be watching closely. I wasn't exactly sure exciting could be used to describe the news.

"What the hell man? Why are you calling now?" I stopped just before I came to AJ's door. Even though it was mostly closed, I could hear the words. "I've been tryin' to get in touch with you… yeah, but you told me not to call." I heard the sound of his footsteps. "No, that's not what I meant. When?" I walked over peeking into the bedroom. AJ's back was to me as he leaned over the desk, a pen in hand. He was writing something down. "Look, can I call you back? Fine you call me whatever. Later."

I could barely duck back against the wall before AJ turned toward the door slamming the end call button on his phone and throwing it toward his headboard.

I exhaled trying to act as though I hadn't just overheard his entire conversation walking to the door frame and knocking. "Hey, I've got to get home. I'll text you about Saturday."

AJ looked up. "Yeah, alright. Catch you later." I couldn't help noticing even as AJ offered a fist, he was distracted. His eyes were glazed over, a sign that his thoughts were probably anywhere but here. I think at that point if I told him I was leaving to jump out of a plane, he would have had the same response.

Even as I got in my car, I couldn't help but wonder, who had AJ been talking to?

Stef's POV

"They're good kids." Bill said. We were sitting at the kitchen table as Bill was looking at Callie and Jude's file. "But there's something you should know."

I turned to Lena as she grabbed my hand.

"Callie has been mute since she was thirteen years old. We don't know why. No one has been able to get a word out of her, not even Jude." He shifted clearing his throat as he paged through the file. "You may have some trouble separating Jude from Callie, for even the most basic reasons. He's… extremely protective."

"Nothing we aren't used to." I said. It was true. When the twins had first come to us, Jesus barely let us near his sister. The twins wouldn't even participate in family activities. Soon enough though, we were able to make both of them understand that we wouldn't hurt them, that they were safe with us. I had no doubt that the same thing would come to be true of Callie and Jude in time.

"Is there any particular way that Callie communicates?" Lena asked.

Bill shook his head. "She refused to try anything. The only form of communication I know of that she does is writing for school just the minimum, and that's for obvious reasons." He gave a dry chuckle.

I could already see the wheels in Lena's head turning. "Have any of her foster families ever taken her for speech therapy, just to get a way to talk to her?"

Another shake of the head. "They haven't exactly had the best of luck when it comes to foster families. Since Callie stopped talking, they've been bounced at least nine times if not more." He sighed. "No kids should ever have to move around that much."

"That's terrible." I said.

"It is." Bill replied. "They really are good kids. They deserve a good home."

"We'll give them one." Lena said. "We'll call you Monday then?"

"I'll come to check in, see how things are going." Bill stood holding out a hand to each of us. "Thank you so much. I appreciate it."

"Of course." I said. "We're happy to do it."

I turned as the door opened and Brandon walked in.

"Hey B, how was it?"

"Good. Dad says hi." I noticed even as he smiled in response that he was distracted. He moved around the kitchen, grabbing a glass, the carton of juice out of the fridge and an apple from the basket, without so much as a glance. Something was weighing on him, I could tell.

"Anything newsworthy?" I continued my prodding even as I felt Lena watching me in amusement.

He looked up peering above the rim of the glass with a shrug. "AJ said yeah about game night. I should probably go introduce myself right?" As he placed his now half empty cup on the counter, his gaze drifted to the living room.

"Yeah, good idea." Lena piped up casting me a warning glance. She always seemed to know when to leave things be when it came to the kids, and I guess now was that time. "Oh, there's something…"

But Brandon was already gone.

I shook my head, the memory of a few months back playing in my head. "It'll be fine."

When Mike had introduced Brandon to AJ, it hadn't gone the way any of us had expected. Brandon wasn't one to become jealous, especially of foster siblings. We had always taught him that there was plenty of love for everyone, and he had gladly taken on the role of older brother teaching Jesus and Mariana everything from how to shoot a basket to how to throw a punch, but there was something different about Mike being the one to take in a kid, especially one the same age as Brandon. Lena and I had immediately noticed a change. Brandon became hostile toward Mike snapping at him and refusing his calls. The fight between Brandon and AJ at the twins' Quinceanera still stood out in my mind. After a serious lecture and subsequent grounding, things had seemed to smooth out between the boys, according to Mike's reports, but still I couldn't help but worry, especially with Callie's situation, that things would somehow become tense again for our kids.

"Shall we?" Lena smiled as we crossed from the kitchen into the living room where Jude was talking with Jesus and Brandon.

"Callie's going to be a senior this year." I heard him saying. "I'm going into eighth grade."

"No way." Jesus replied. "Brandon's a senior too. Maybe Mr. Bigshot can show Callie around Anchor Beach." He elbowed Brandon good naturedly.

I noticed Brandon was staying back, nodding occasionally, but watching pensively. I had a feeling I knew what he was waiting for, the same thing I had been waiting for, but it wasn't going to come.

Callie bit her lip, watching Jesus and Brandon. I noticed that with every word, she inched further back shrinking visibly. If it was possible, she probably would have been part of the couch by now.

"Alright," I said walking over. "That's enough. Let's give them some space, yes? Help Mama set the table."

The boys nodded moving toward the kitchen, leaving me alone with Callie and Jude. I was still watching Brandon and Jesus, but even with my back turned I could hear a whispered reassurance.

"No one's gonna hurt you Cal'."

It was settled in my mind then: a firm and unshakable resolution. I would help this girl and her brother, no matter what.

* * *

 _ **A/N: There will be a lot of Callie/Moms in this story, specifically Lena and Callie, but Stef/ Callie will play a big role as well as Stef/Jude. I am probably going to switch focuses occasionally but both moms will get their bonding moments with the Jacob siblings. This will not have any romantic Brallie, but Brandon will bond with Callie at points as will Mariana and Jesus, and of course AJ :) What do you think will happen with him? Any idea what Brandon will do? Suggestions are always welcome! Next chapter: we hear from AJ and Jesus, Mariana has her second meeting with Jude and Callie, and someone has a breakdown. Suggestions always welcome! Until next time.**_


	4. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Got chapter three done a bit ahead of schedule This was a fun one, bit of a roller coaster. I think you'll see what I mean. :) Sets up some of the differences from canon too. Once again, I own nothing, just the storyline.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

Jesus' POV

"What do you think?" I looked at Brandon who was extremely occupied with the forks. "Hey, Martha Stewart!"

As predicted that got his attention. His head snapped up and over to my side. "What?"

"What are you setting the table for the Queen of England or something? Step away from the forks." I shook my head. "I asked what you thought about the new kids. You gonna throw another chair?" I saw Brandon flinch as the memory took root, but I didn't feel too bad. It was nothing that moms hadn't been reminding him about. He was the one that made an idiot of himself at our party.

"You ever gonna let that go?" His voice was a whisper.

I smirked, in an effort to break the tense mood. "It's good blackmail."

"Moron."

"So? What's the verdict?" I waved off the name calling.

"They seem fine." Brandon shrugged. "Nervous, kinda like you and Mari were."

The door opened, letting in a fresh wave of sticky evening air. "Who's like us?" Mariana spoke.

"Our new foster siblings." Brandon replied.

"Yeah, except at least Mariana said hi. " I huffed. "What do you think is with her?"

"Callie?" Mariana said. In response to our raised eyebrows she continued. "I kind of ran into her and Jude coming down before dance practice."

"Meaning collision?" Brandon smirked as Mariana slammed him with her purse.

"Yeah," I continued. "She was looking at us like we were gonna hit her or something." I looked over to Brandon. "You had to notice."

"Did you?" Brandon sighed. "You were the one that wouldn't shut up. Even I wanted to get away from you. Don't jump the gun."

I shook my head. I was still convinced that something had happened to Callie. Brandon may have not noticed, but there was something I couldn't shake. She even seemed scared of her social worker. But Brandon was probably right. He'd gotten in trouble for doing the same thing I was now.

"Why do you think she hasn't said anything?" Mariana was looking in, watching Mom as she was watching Callie and Jude.

"Maybe instead of staring, you could actually try talking _to_ her and not _about_ her.", Mama had come back into the kitchen and placed a hand on Mariana's shoulder. "As long as you're in here, could you grab the glasses from the cabinet?"

Mariana nodded as her face reddened. I smirked.

"That goes for all of you." Mama said. "When you have a question for Callie and Jude, ask _them_. Gossiping is rude."

We all ducked our heads as we continued shuffling around the kitchen.

* * *

Now we were sitting around the table for dinner. Mariana was seated next to Callie, I was seated opposite of Jude and on Callie's other side. Brandon had taken the seat in between Jude and Mom, who had placed the salad on the table. Mama was carrying the chicken and placed the plate in the center, before taking her seat next to Mom.

Callie's hesitation didn't go unnoticed. Even Jude was watching us carefully, only going for food when we did. Callie, Callie didn't grab anything at all.

"Hey," Mariana said. "You can eat something."

I saw Callie look at Jude who nodded slightly. It wouldn't have even been noticeable if I wasn't sitting across from him.

All action at the table had stopped. Brandon was reaching across the table, his eyebrows raised, a silent offer to take Callie's plate and help her. Unfortunately, Callie didn't see it that way.

She pushed herself from the table, her and the kitchen chair falling to the floor in her haste to get away. Her breathing came out shallow and her hands immediately went up as she wedged herself in between the kitchen sink and the fridge.

"Shit…" I hissed. Jude, Mom and Mama were immediately out of their seats.

Wordlessly, I tapped the back of Mariana's hand. She was watching in shock. I had to drag her to the living room past our now frozen in place older brother.

Jude's POV

The clatter of the kitchen chair had acted like a starting gun. I was up and running toward Callie, my dinner abandoned. It was happening again. It had been happening more and more often, even with Bill. Callie was able to control it earlier when Bill had forgotten, but sometimes, like now, an event caused the fear to come back resulting in one of Callie's panic attacks.

"Callie," I knelt in front of her, not even caring that Lena was closer to her. "Cal', it's Jude, come on. Breathe." I rubbed my thumb along her wrist as she opened her hand, dropping both to her lap. "100, 99, 98…" As I started the countdown that had become our ritual, I could feel Stef watching me, but I didn't care. I had to calm Callie down. It wasn't until we had gotten to 87 that Callie's breathing started evening out. She was only hiccuping now, taking in air like it was going to disappear.

"I can take it from here Jude." Lena put a hand on my shoulder. "Thank you."

I stepped back, but didn't move away completely.

"You're okay sweetheart." Lena soothed.

"Jude," Stef's voice snapped me back to the present. "Does this… happen a lot?"

I sighed giving a small nod. "Counting is the only thing that helps."

"That's why you were counting back from 100?"

I choked back a sob as the memories came flooding back. I only remembered snippets of _before_ , but I do remember she used to count, locking us in the closet as she brushed Callie's hair back on one of the bad nights, before the accident changed everything. It was like a thick black line divided the two halves of my past, there was _before_ and there was _after_ which involved group homes, social workers and different beds each month. For Callie, there was a completely different _before and after_ , a subsection of our _after_ , one that I couldn't quite reach.

"I…" Instead of answering verbally I nodded.

"Jude,"

"I'm not going to let you hurt her." I turned to where the oldest brother, Brandon, sat, just watching. "She's been hurt enough."

"I didn't-" Brandon stood looking appalled that I would even suggest it.

Stef looked between us sighing. "Brandon, can you give us a minute?"

He nodded as he left the kitchen without another word.

"Jude, I want you to understand something okay?" Stef put a hand on my shoulder. "We're here to help you guys, but you have to let us."

"Yeah, sure." I shrugged. It sounded true enough, but there was no way of knowing.

"Good. Come on." Stef nodded toward the living room.

AJ's POV

I sat on my bed, still completely confused. Ty had called me. It's been a month since I last heard from him, and our last call hadn't exactly gone well. I told him I had been fostered by Mike. Ty's always been suspicious so I wasn't surprised when he asked me what Mike did. I told him Mike was a cop, not realizing until later that I probably should have come up with another answer or evaded the question. Long story short, he flipped out: a lot of cursing, and a use your head kid rant later, he had told me not to try to get in touch with him again, and hung up.

Then, he calls me, saying that he's cleaned up, wants us to meet. I didn't know what to think. I had two sides warring, part of me wanted to cry into the phone like I was a kid again but another part of me was so angry at him, so I did the only thing I could think of. I told him I'd meet him, wrote down the address and then hung up quick.

"Hey AJ," I looked up as I saw Mike standing outside the door. "I just got a call from Lena, here's the deal." He walked in taking a seat on the office chair at the desk. "She offered to let you spend the day with them since Stef and I might be working late, save a trip you know?" He shrugged.

"I'm not twelve." I scoffed. "I'll take a bus." I felt bad for snapping, but I wasn't exactly in a good mood.

"That's…" He rubbed the side of his face. "That's not the point."

"So…?" I waved him on.

"They wanna spend time with you, not just an hour here and there. We're all trying." Mike sighed. "I thought we were past this."

" _I_ thought I was going for a game night, not to be babysat all day."

"Damn it AJ, it's not…"

"I get it. They're my family too." I sighed. "I'm sorry I'm just real tired. I'm gonna get ready for bed."

"Sure." Mike stood. "Night AJ."

"Night."

* * *

 _ **A/N: Don't worry, Brandon will become more in tune soon enough. There's a very specific reason why he's not "jumping the gun" as he says that was hinted at and will be explored more. Also, I'm trying to explore some other dynamics in this story, so Brandon and Callie will kind of be at a distance at first rather than the quick friendship that came out of him helping her in canon. Fun fact, the counting. That's a bit autobiographical. It's a method I use when I'm stressed to the point of panic attack or when I can't sleep. I figured it would fit Callie and Jude well, so I put it in. That will be coming back at points. As for AJ's storyline, I know it seems kind of similar right now, but it will diverge based on what we know or don't at the end of 3a. I'm going to combine events scramble things, imagine and speculate a bit and use the clues from seasons 2 and 3a to make what I hope will be an interesting storyline for him, Mike and the Adams-Fosters.**_

 _ **After that long ramble, any predictions? Things you want to see? I'll try to incorporate as much as I can. Also, any suggestions for how Callie will start communicating with the others? **_


	5. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Hey all, I got the next chapter of this story finished. Not as much as I wanted to fit in but this seemed like a good place to end, and also kind of gives an indicator that I'm still writing :) Hope you all like it. I still do not own the Fosters, nope, just my idea.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

Lena's POV

All of the kids were in bed. Stef had gotten air mattresses from the garage, laying one in Jesus' room and one in Mariana's for Callie and Jude, a temporary solution until the beds were delivered next week. I couldn't sleep, the red block letters on our clock staring at me from the nightstand. Callie's panic attack was still stuck in my head, playing on a neverending loop.

"Lena," I heard Stef's voice in the darkness. "Do you think we're doing the right thing?"

Doing the right thing? The instant answer was on my lips before I could think about it, the reassurance, the same reassurance Stef had given me on the twins' first night with us and that we had given each other many nights since until they were comfortable. "Of course we are. Those kids, they need somewhere to feel safe. We'll give that to them."

"You're right." I could almost see Stef biting her lip. "But we've never… she's scared of Brandon and Jesus Lena."

I had seen the fear in her eyes when the boys were talking, the way she was trying to distance herself, and then the way she hurried away when Brandon offered to help, setting off the attack. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have the same reservations after tonight.

"You should have seen him Lena." Stef's words were tumbling out one after the other. "He didn't even come to the couch after dinner."

"You think it was because of Callie?" I grabbed Stef's hand. "We'll talk to them tomorrow okay?"

I heard the movement as Stef changed positions, but she never let go of my hand.

Brandon's POV

I stepped out of my bedroom, taking a cursory look at my phone. 7AM, the clock said. I never usually woke up this early on a Saturday, but after yesterday, it was a preventative measure. As I walked to the bathroom, I heard the shower running. Someone else was up.

I knew it couldn't be Mariana. Waking up before ten was unheard of for her unless she had a dance show to prepare for or school. Jesus was a possibility. He liked to beat us to the shower on most days if he could, but I didn't hear his usual glomping footsteps. I actually didn't hear much of anything besides the water running.

I walked down the hall peeking through the half open door to my brother's room as I saw the form on the air mattress. Jude was still asleep, so that meant…

As I turned back around I saw her, eyes wide and clutching the towel even tighter around her, bare feet slipping as she ran quickly back to the bedroom and slammed the door.

Great. Just great. Not only had I proceeded to scare Callie even more, I had also caused her to fall victim to one of Mariana's morning mood swings.

"Everything okay out here?" I saw Moms walking out of their room. Mama's gaze fell straight on me before turning towards Mariana's room where the slam had come from.

"Callie was in the bathroom. She didn't see me waiting here and…" I sighed as my hand pointed in the direction of the door.

"Oh B…" Mom and Mama exchanged a look.

"Come on, let's go get some breakfast huh?" Mom put an arm around me. "We'll talk a bit."

I nodded as I let her lead me downstairs to the kitchen.

Mariana's POV

I heard the door slam bolting upright as my hand immediately reached for the lamp on my nightstand. As the dim light circled the room, I saw Callie grabbing for the clothing on the floor near the air mattress breathing heavily. I turned my back, giving her as much privacy as the room offered, walking over to hit the light switch on the wall. The nightstand lamp wasn't exactly the best to see by.

Callie looked over as she pulled on a long sleeve tee, hearing my movement. Her face turned sheepish.

"What happened?" I asked.

She didn't answer, not that I expected much. Her hair fell into her face as she bit her lip.

"Was it Jesus?" I knew my brother knew more about the different sort of people we encountered in the system, but he had more lapses than even he realized sometimes especially after so many years with the Adams-Fosters. I did too, more often than not, but she seemed to really have trouble with my brothers.

She shook her head hard.

"You know…" I said. "Next time you want to go to the bathroom and avoid people," I walked over the door nearest to her. "It's right through here. You just have to knock before you go in."

This earned a smile, a small smile which disappeared just as fast as it appeared.

"They aren't so bad." I walked into the bathroom myself, talking through the open door as I grabbed my toothbrush. The outburst from dinner yesterday ran through my head. "Sometimes Brandon just takes his foster brother role a little too seriously." I smirked. "Oldest sibling syndrome I think." I grabbed a palmful of water as I rinsed. "You'll get used to it. Or just ignore it like I do."

The silence was jarring. I'd be the first to admit that. I was tempted to fill the space with words, but I found myself watching Callie instead. She sat on her hands staring at me staring at her. Her face was unreadable.

"I was gonna head downstairs, you wanna come?"

She sighed, nodded as she held up one finger.

"In a minute? You want me to wait, or just meet you down there?"

She pointed toward the door nodding as she bit her lip.

"Alright… are you sure?" I looked to the door.

She nodded again.

"Suit yourself then."

* * *

 _ **A/N: So, how'd I do? Any thoughts on what could happen next, or prompts for the oneshot collections? Let me know! Until next time.**_


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